Clips that will have an impact on your eyes and your ears…
19 April 2018
After having played together in other bands previously, the duo of Alex Noble (vocals, guitars & keyboards) and Charlie Burley (production, samples, guitars and keyboards)
started APRIL TOWERS back in August 2013. They will release their debut longplayer
next June. Ahead of the album launch the British pair just shared a clip for ace single TEL AVIV. An elevating synth earworm that will energize all your senses and all your
limbs. This luminous pop humdinger magnetizes from start to finish. Just impossible
not to dance to this king-sized tune. Blissful vocals and a sparkling chorus as catchy
as hell. Funky summer is in the air! You can shake your booty right here…
Of the video the duo says: “Water is a key theme of the upcoming album so we headed to the Cornish coast to take in the stunning scenery. We loved experimenting with the lighting and feel of the video to reflect the intensity of the record and what it means to us.”. The clip was directed by Sean Robinson.
Album CERTIFIED FREAKY out 8 June – All info right here
Who: “A noisy garage pop trio from Manchester forged of three talents and a desire for direct communication, led by former Marion guitarist/songwriter Anthony Grantham and joined by Alex Redhead (bass) formerly of Amplifier and Peter Gray (drums) who used to play with Letters to Fiesta. The Mu-Tones manifesto is direct and to the point: short sharp songs crammed full of loud, angry, weird magic.”
Pick: SLAB CITY RECORDS – debut single
Score: pushed by a feverish, ongoing bass riff this red-hot crackerjack gets nastier with every second. After a couple of foreplay explosions and driven by raging vocals this garage ripper finally crashes big time. Flaming debut score! Get the razor-sharp vibe right here…
Going back in sonic history looking for memorable albums…
19 April 2018
Band: MASSIVE ATTACK
Album: MEZZANINE
Released: 20 April 1998 – 20 years ago
Pitchfork wrote: “The album corroded their tendencies to make big-wheel hymnals of interconnected lives where hope and despair trade precedent—on Mezzanine, it’s alienation all the way down. There’s no safety from harm here, nothing you’ve got to be thankful for, nobody to take the force of the blow: what ‘Mezzanine’ provides instead is a succession of parties and relationships and panopticons where the walls won’t stop closing in. ‘Mezzanine’ stands as an album built around echoes of the ’70s, wrestled through the immediacy of its creators’ tumultuous late ’90s, and fearless enough that it still sounds like it belongs in whatever timeframe you’re playing it.” Score: 9.3/10 – Full review here
Turn Up The Volume says: This longplayer always sounded to me like a perfect soundtrack for sci-fi movie ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind‘. Otherworldly, transcendental, but most of all astonishingly fascinating in sound and vision. Groundbreaking performance…
Three Top Tracks: Teardrop / Risingson / Man Next Door
“In light of Facebook’s continued disregard for your privacy, their lack of transparency and disregard for accountability, ‘Massive Attack’ will be temporarily withdrawing from FB”
(March 2018)
‘Plastic Surgery Disasters’
DEAD KENNEDYS
Released: Nov 1982
Third LP
ALL MUSIC wrote: “Having proved themselves masters of the quick, vicious smash and bash, on their second full-length album the Kennedys continued in that vein while finding other effective ways to express their all-encompassing message of resistance and satire. Absolutely nobody is safe, whether it’s the more expected targets of conservative society, or those who claim to follow what the Kennedys and punk promised but only ended up acting like idiots. For the most part, though, it’s a well-deserved smackdown of all the jerks the early ’80s produced, set to some fantastic music. Unsurprisingly, Biafra is still at the center of it all.”
TURN UP THE VOLUME‘s favorite track: MOON OVER MARIN…
WHO: “a post progressive band formed in 2014 by guitarist Eric Martinez and vocalist Danica Salazar, the duo joined forces shortly after with drummer Trey Puga, bassist Daven Martinez and guitarist Jonathan Garza to released their first EP in 2016 titled Tierra Eterna. In the years to come, the bands musical style has evolved to feature aggressive, charging drums and bass, distorted and melodic guitars and a blend of gloomy and eager vocal melodies that reflect high energy and burying anxiety.”
PICK: ‘Intención’ – track from upcoming EP
SCORE: This robust up and down roller coaster bangs big time. The heavy track starts
as if Björk, the famous sonic elf, is fronting an experimental metal combo. Adventurous, wayward and unorthodox. Then near the middle, this highly potent power stroke turns into a droning monster with Danica Salazar‘s voice wailing mysteriously and impressively from deep down as if she’s about to drown. Spectacular stuff! Turn up the decibels, here’s the hammer…
‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’
SOFT CELL
Released: 27 Nov 1981
Debut album
ALL MUSIC wrote: “‘Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret’ originally released in Britain in the fall of 1981, contained both the band’s first hit and its follow-up, “Bedsitter,” its title referring to what in America would be called a studio apartment. At full album length, lyricist Almond’s primary preoccupation, only suggested in ‘Tainted Love’ was spelled out. This was a theme album about aberrant sexuality, a tour of a red-light district. The point was well made on ‘Sex Dwarf’ with
its oft-repeated chorus ‘Isn’t it nice/Sugar and spice/Luring disco dollies to a life of vice?’ The insistent beats taken at steady dance tempos and the chilling electronic sounds conjured by
Ball emphasized Almond’s fascination with deviance; it almost seemed as though the album
had been designed to be played in topless bars. British listeners saw through Almond’s
pretense or were amused by him, or both. More puritanical Americans tended to disapprove, which probably limited the group’s long-term success stateside. But the music was undeniably influential.”
TURN UP THE VOLUME‘s favorite track: SAY HELLO, WAVE GOODBYE
Together Samuel Buss and Brittany West are KOBAN. A highly intriguing darksome tandem describing themselves as a ‘drifter satanic murder couple‘. Don’t get scared, it’s just that as artists they love to explore the nightmarish side of humankind. For this pair, making music about the saturnine side of daily life works like therapy. They design twilight soundscapes pushed by obscure bass lines, ongoing electric-powered guitar waves and rhythmic synth beats while dusky vocals intensify the overall gloomy picture perfectly. Last month they played Turn Up The Volume‘s hometown Ghent (Belgium). An ideal opportunity for a Q & A. Let’s get in the right frame of mind first with ‘The Instinct Of Ego, a doom-loaded track from their latest album ‘Abject Obsessions‘…
.
Hello Britt & Sam, hello KOBAN
Welcome at Turn Up The Volume!
1/ What’s the story behind the band’s name?
“It’s not a very good story…we got the name when we were teens traveling in Japan. We kept on seeing these signs everywhere that said ‘KOBAN’ and we liked the aesthetic look, and the neutral tone that came with it. Turns out they were community help boxes? Who knew!”
2/ What does the term/label ‘Goth Music’ really means to you?
“We never really wanted a label for our music, as we didn’t want to be confined into a box and stifle any creativity. However, our music is often an expression of the harder emotions to show in everyday life, so a darkness does come forward. It’s a release. Therapy. I guess that darkness is why people connect us with Goth music.”
3/ The band’s artwork/image by Colin Cey is really fascinating.
What is its signification?
“Colin is an amazing tattoo artist, and a dear friend, who often draws femme figures,
and deals with concepts of death, time and space, literature and nature. We asked him
to create a T-shirt design based on one of the femme figures, and that is what he gave us! Interpretation is up to the wear-er…”
Fascinating…
4/ Which track is KOBAN’s signature one so far and why?
“‘We Run Red Lights’ epitomizes us pretty clearly. It encompasses all the elements of
our music. Sam and my vocals simultaneously playing off each other, repetitive drums, punchy bass and washed out guitar. We don’t play this one live, but after reflecting on it…we probably should!”
5/ Why is your latest EP titled ‘Part Time Punk Sessions’?
“Part Time Punks is a weekly night hosted in Los Angeles where they play Punk, Post-Punk, Minimal Synth, Industrial and a whole range of other types of music. When we opened
for Crash Course in Science there in April 2017, they recorded the session afterwards in a studio. We really enjoyed the tracks and wanted to get them out ASAP and we didn’t want to wait for a label to pick them up so… voila! Digital “Part Time Punks Sessions” released!”
. 6/ If KOBAN would be an animal, which one would it be and why?
“I think we would be lions because we are ferocious and strong
on the outside, and cuddly babies on the inside.”
Koban’s alter ego…
7/ Any rituals before going on stage?
“Drinking profusely (to cut the nerves)
“Pacing back and forth (to cut the nerves)
“Doing push ups/stretches (to cut the nerves
and get STRONG.)”
Live Action (Ghent, Belgium – 20 March 2018)…
8/ Which movie would you pick to visualize your music on
a big screen at when playing a concert?
“Eraserhead. Because it is so eerie and beautiful at the same time, and
I can’t get enough of that gross, weird alien baby thing… forcing people
to look at it for a whole set would please me.”
9/ If you could go back in time on which artist’s front door
would you knock and ask to have a selfie together?
“We would go back in time to visit the Neanderthals who created the Red Disk and hand stencils in the El Castillo cave. We would do this in order to see what the early man was like, and what they were thinking at the time. We would ask them to explain to us why
they drew these stencils, and if they would take a traditional selfie: a handprint on the
cave wall!”
10/ Future plans for KOBAN?
“We’re taking a break now from writing and will be working on a new
electronic project called “SIGSALY”. Check it out here on Bandcamp”
Thanks, Britt and Sam for the chat.
May the road rise with KOBAN!
Here’s KOBAN‘s latest full length
‘ABJECT OBSESSIONS‘ right here…
Going back in sonic history looking for memorable albums…
16 April 2018
BAND: THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN
ALBUM: BARBED WIRE KISSES
RELEASED: 18 April 1988 – 30 years ago
ALL MUSIC wrote: “Just a few years into their official recording career, ‘The Jesus and Mary Chain’ had enough B-sides, outtakes, and other things sitting around to warrant a collection
of nearly all of them, thus ‘Barbed Wire Kisses’. A welcome inclusion is the original debut single on Creation, ‘Upside Down’ which in terms of the mix alone makes ‘Psychocandy’ sound like ‘Boston’. A large number of tracks essentially continue the ‘Psychocandy’ aesthetic without adding much to it, though those not entirely taken with ‘Darklands’ will find much to love with the likes of ‘Head’ and ‘Cracked.’ Meanwhile, two alternate versions of album cuts, an acoustic take on ‘Taste of Cindy’ and a neat demo take of ‘On the Wall’ add to the fun.”
Who:“producer and performer of her own sequin-encrusted beats, powerhouse vocals,
and picaresque persona. Raised on the glitz and glam of yesteryear, Nyssa flips the script on masculinity in rock and roll, blitzing the boys’ club to pave the way for all of the bad girls. She uses her lyrical prowess to explore themes of modern-day feminine malaise, sexuality, and androgyny.”
Pick: CHAMPION OF LOVE – title track of her 5-track debut EP described by the author
as a “a surreal descent into a punk Wonderland all while exuding trashy glam pop stylings.”
Score: This quite special artist already made Turn Up The Volume‘s blood streaming faster with previous single Cowboy, an ardent electro slam. And here’s now the title track of her fresh 5-track debut EP ‘Champion Of Love’. What starts as a funky synth-pop joyride turns into an epic tower of an elevating song when Nyssa‘s monumental vox goes sky-high in the epic chorus. Her impassioned voice will blow you off your poor feet on first hearing. FACT! Her vocal performance has the massive impact of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. No kidding! Here’s 24 Karat Gold Magnificence! Capture her breathtaking intensity right here…
‘Thunder Up’
THE SOUND
Released: 28 Dec 1987
Fifth and final album
PENNY BLACK MUSIC wrote: “Released on the Dutch label ‘Play It Again Sam’ (PIAS)
after Statik went into liquidation, ‘Thunder Up’ is the most diverse of all The Sound’s
albums and strikes a middle balance between the pumped-up adrenalin rock of
‘Jeopardy’ and ‘From the Lion’s Mouth’, and the more subdued, bleak experimentations
of ‘All Fall Down’. The musicianship is never less than impressive. It is, however, Borland’s
lyrics that are the real tour-de-force. As The Sound’s fortunes had begun to wane and they played to increasingly diminishing audiences, the always sensitive Borland had started to display symptoms of manic depression. In 1986 he was diagnosed as having a schizoid
affective disorder. ‘Thunder Up’ was essentially about a man clawing his way back from the edge, desperately trying to make sense of his life in all its confusion and to save the band that he loved. It is especially poignant as Borland, Mayers and the Sound were all not to survive. Thunder Up’ despite all its rich complexities, remains the band’s unsung masterpiece.”
TURN UP THE VOLUME‘s fav track: immensely beautiful… HAND OF LOVE
